Danbury cop's threat to immigrant puts force in spotlight

Libor Janyand John Pirro

Published 9:15 pm, Thursday, June 6, 2013

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DANBURY -- "If there weren't four other cops here I'd beat the s--- out of you."

Those are the words of Danbury Police Officer Chris Belair, whose profanity-laced tirade directed at an undocumented immigrant in March has put his career on the line, led to stiff disciplinary action against three other cops and raised questions about the larger culture of the department.

Belair also faces an allegation that he used unreasonable force against the unidentified motorist. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton said the video and audio recordings of the incident have been turned over to the Danbury state's attorney to determine if there are grounds for criminal charges.

Following a nearly day-long series of hearings at City Hall, Boughton suspended the other officers, Rob Madore, Andrew Katkocin and Ryan Howley, without pay for 30, 120, and 180 days, respectively. The mayor said he would decide on Belair's punishment within a few days. All four had been on administrative leave since the incident came to light in April, after Howley, who recorded Belair's diatribe on his cellphone, circulated it among other department members.

The case has refocused attention on the city and its police force, which in the past has been the target of criticism for enforcement efforts that raised tensions among Danbury's large undocumented community. At a time when the nation is moving toward a broader accommodation with undocumented immigrants, the episode had some minority leaders asking if it reflected a broader culture of hostility toward immigrants by the city's police department.

"Whenever you have an incident like this, you wonder what is going on there. Is this profiling?" said state Sen. Andres Ayala, D-Bridgeport, who said he "was alarmed" when he heard the recording.

"It's only one case and I don't know if it's a pattern, but the manner in which this officer approached the person was shocking," Ayala said.

"We've made some inroads and something like this has the opportunity to create that schism again,'' she said. "But I'm still looking at it that the glass is half-full. Sometimes things have to fall part so you can build them again."

Hispanics constitute approximately 25 percent of the city's 80,000-plus population, and there are about 16,500 people who aren't U.S. Citizens, according to the Census Bureau.

Boughton said he was "very concerned" about the use of force charge against Belair. A video camera on one of the police cruisers indicated that Belair appeared to have struck the motorist, a source familiar with the case said.

Boughton added that there was no indication the motorist had been targeted because of his ethnicity or race, and he cautioned against "a rush to judgment."

"This was a good traffic stop. The car was covered in snow and there was no way the police could see who was in it," he said. "It went bad when Officer Belair got there."

The hearings were held behind closed doors, despite requests by at least two of the officers that they be open to the public. But in order for that to happen, according to the police union contract, both sides had to agree, and the city did not.

In an interview, Boughton briefly outlined the stop, which occurred on March 8. Madore initially stopped the car for running a red light on White Street, but the driver was intoxicated and came to a halt in the middle of an intersection, necessitating that Katkocin and Howley respond as backups.

The motorist was also determined to be driving without a license, so police "used their discretion" and issued him tickets for the red light violation and unlicensed operation, the mayor said.

"The net effect was the same as if he had been charged," Boughton said. "His car was towed, he was off the road and he was no longer driving."(Sometime during the stop, Belair showed up and began verbally abusing the driver, angrily shouting that his own uncle had been killed by in a traffic accident with an undocumented immigrant who was driving without a license, according to the 85-second recording, which was made by Howley and obtained Thursday by The News-Times.

At another point, Belair said, "But stop being in this country and almost (expletive) killing people 'cause you're too (expletive) stupid to call a ride. All right?" The driver responds, "I'm sorry, man."

During the entire episode, Madore was seated in his cruiser, which was pointed away from the other officers, writing the tickets, and he may have been unaware what was transpiring, the mayor said. But Madore was disciplined for a variety of departmental violations, including not having the camera system in his cruiser tuned on.

Perhaps more than any mayor in Connecticut, Boughton has taken a tough line on illegal immigration, cooperating closely with federal enforcement efforts. In 2006, a "sting" operation by federal officers and Danbury police snared 11 undocumented immigrants; most of them successfully sued the city and federal government for civil rights violations.

Boughton said he was confident that any problems that exist in the department could be handled with additional training and the addition of new officers to the force, items that are already in the pipeline.

"My biggest concern is that I want to make sure that every resident can feel comfortable that their interactions with the police.....would be conducted in a professional, competent and respectful manner. Every resident in the city deserves that," he said.